a turn of events
by parpo103
Summary: After Ron left, Harry and Hermione think things over... What conclusion do they reach?


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. That is a right that belongs to J. K. Rowling.

This takes place during Deathly Hallow right after Ron left. The event however is something that my mind kept wondering about, and created on its own. I just put it to words as good as I could. It is a romantic story with Hermione Harry pairing with slight Ron bashing. It is more of a wish on my part than anything else really.

Hope you like it.

Please leave a comment. It is always appreciated.

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A turn of events

To Harry it had been an unbelievable thing which had transpired. A week had passed since then. One entire week since Ronald Weasly had left, leaving them all alone to continue their hunt for the horcruxes all by their own. Hermione had spent most of the time crying whenever they stopped for the night. During the day neither she nor Harry spoke much. She was too depressed and Harry too angry. It didn't help that he was the one who kept wearing the locket either. It fuelled his rage, and he often found himself thinking about all the ways he could hurt Ron. Maybe he would hex him in some painful way or to hit him. Most of the time he got the locket off before his thoughts went too far.

It was during the eighth night that Harry noticed that it was getting a lot colder, and quickly. He was lying on his cot and feeling how the wet and cold air seep through his clothes. He began to shiver slightly. Looking across the tent he saw Hermione was sitting curled up on her cot. She wasn't crying anymore, which could be either a good sign or a bad one. He didn't know yet. She did look sad, and it hurt him to see her like that. To see how Ron had hurt her, again. It had been bad enough to have seen how Ron had hurt her when he had been together with Lavender at Hogwarts, but now it was worse. And he saw that she did the only thing she could do in the situation they were in. She read. Harry had been shocked when Ron had left. Shocked, sad and angry. But after a few days of thinking, he began to realize that maybe it wasn't such a shocking thing. Ron had shown doubt in him before. Jealousy of his fame and money and anger that Harry was the popular one. He never really understood why.

Harry's focus was on Hermione, and his eyes were locked on her. Her bushy brown hair looked a bit more tangled and worn than usual, and, in his opinion, the wild look suited her. Her skin was paler, giving her a slightly ghostly look. She was wearing tight jeans and a tight pullover, both complimenting her body very well. Harry noticed, not for the first time either, that she had a very good-looking body. Curvy in all the right places yet slim and petite. He felt himself get hotter slightly when looking at her. But it was her face that drew his attention the most. The fine features, those beautiful eyes filled with knowledge, strength, sadness and determination, her lips, pursed together as she concentrated at reading, and her brow that knitted together. They made her look even cuter that normally. He enjoyed watching her so much.

"Harry?" He jumped when she spoke. "Is something the matter?"

"Huh?" Blushingly, he tore his gaze away from her and focused on the ground.

"You kept staring at me."

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She put the book down and turned a little to look at her friend. "What's bothering you?"

"N... Nothing, 'Mione."

She sighed. "Look. If something's the matter, then talk. It's better that just sitting around and sulking. Believe me, I'd love the distraction."

He fought with himself. He wanted to cheer her up, to be able to see her laugh again or even smile. It's been weeks since he had seen her smile even once. But what could he do? He couldn't tell her what he had been thinking about. She would bloody kill him! She fancied Ron, not him. And she wouldn't appreciate him leering at her like some sick pervert. But what could he do? His mind raced, trying to make something up so that she wouldn't figure out why he had been looking at her like that.

"Wanna listen to the radio?" he blurted out and darted to where Ron had left it in a corner. Hermione just looked at him surprised, perhaps wondering if he had finally gone mad. She watched as he switched it on and turned the knobs, trying to find something to listen to. Then she heard music. It sounded familiar. It was something one would dance to, a regular beat, and as he turned up the volume, she began to remember where she had heard it before. It had been at the Yule Ball at Hogwarts two years past. A small smile appeared on her lips as memories of the dance and that year began to surface. It had only been two years ago, but it felt like a lifetime. So much had happened since then.

Harry let out a breath as he found something on the radio. Maybe it would get Hermione to stop asking him questions he didn't want to answer. As he stood up and turned around he saw something that shocked him. Something that made him smile and warmed him from the bottom of his heart. He saw Hermione smiling. It was a small smile, but it was a sweet and warm one. A genuine smile, and suddenly she became even more beautiful than before.

On a sudden impulse he got up and walked over to where she was sitting. He would never be able to explain why he did what he did then. As he stopped in front of Hermione, she looked up at him, still wearing that little smile. Her eyes searching his, asking what was the matter. Then he bent down slightly and held out his hand to her.

"May I have this dance?" He smiled as friendly as he could. Tentatively she reached out and took it. Standing up, Harry drew her to the middle of the tent where they had much more room and they began dancing. First very timidly, and as the music went on they became more engaged and their dancing turned more active. Together they danced and danced, laughing and for the first time in a long time forgetting their worries and focusing on the now, focusing on happiness, on themselves.

The radio began to play a slow and romantic song, and they both stopped and stared at each other. Swallowing hard, Harry held out his hands, expecting her to decline. Instead she surprised him by nodding and stepping closer. She put her arms around his neck, leaning her head against his shoulder, feeling his arms close around her waist. They began turning around the open space, dancing slowly. It felt nice, comforting. It felt warm, and to Harry it felt right.

They danced like that for a long time, neither of them noticing the radio had stopped playing music for a while as the batteries had died on them. They just enjoyed each other's company. But as with everything else, even this came to an end. Then they stopped, and let go of each other, stepping a step back from each other, blushing slightly.

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for the dance."

"It was my pleasure, 'Mione. All I wanted was to see you smile again." Hermione blushed and looked away.

"Thank you..." she mumbled and went back to her cot. Harry noticed however that she had suddenly again lost her smile, and he berated himself for opening his big mouth. It had all been for nothing. Head hanging low he went back to his own cot, lying down and picking up the horcrux . He looked at it with disgust before hanging it around his neck. His usual thoughts of hurting Ron didn't come, instead he began thinking about how he could hurt himself.

During the night, Hermione sat outside the tent wearing most of her pullovers, trying not to freeze too much. She had offered to take the first watch. Even if all those enchantments they had put up made them more or less unnoticeable, it was better to be safe than sorry. And it gave her some time to think as well. To sit alone and to think about the events of the past week and more, to be able to sort out her thoughts. If she was lucky.

Ron had left. Not her boyfriend, but Ron. She couldn't see him as her boyfriend anymore. Not after he had just left them like that. Not after he had made her choose between him and Harry. The week after had been filled with anger and sadness, and then a realization. She hadn't been that sad that her boyfriend had left but that their friend had left in a time of need. She was also angry at herself for thinking like that, not just angry at Ron.

"So, what am I suppose to do? To feel?" she asked herself in a low voice. "Do I even love him?" These questions twirled through her head like a storm, making her dizzy. She was used to always knowing the answer, for the most part at least. But now? She wished that Harry was awake. That he would sit next to her and comfort her as he had done when Ron had been together with Lavender. But she didn't dare to wake him. He needed the rest. He had been taking the watch most of the nights without much complaining, much of this because of the slump she had been in.

"You've always been there for me," she whispered to herself, looking up at the stars in the sky. And then it hit her. _He_ had always been there for her. _He_ had been the one whom had saved her from that troll during their first year. _He_ had defeated the basilisk which had petrified her. He had always been there for her, no matter what. Standing by _her_ side, letting her lean on _him_ no matter what. _He_ had been her strength this entire time. _He_, not Ron, but Harry. How many times had she said thank you? She remembered that she had said it today, after he had made her smile again and made her forget the worries for a little while.

But what about Ron? He often teased her, put her down and complained about her knowing too much about things that had no real value to him. He never stood by her, never took care to help her or encourage her. He spent more times checking out other girls than looking at her. "So why did I even stay with him?" she said aloud in frustration.

"Why did I even stay with him?" When Harry heard those words he froze up. His entire stomach twisted into a knot, turning and aching. He closed his eyes and curled up on his side. Sadness fell upon him, making him whimper in silence. One thought ran over and over through his mind. She would leave. The one person whom he had hoped would always stand by his side would leave him. First his parents left him, then Sirius left, then Dumbledore and finally Ron. Now she would leave him too, and he would be all alone. Again. It would be just like before he went to Hogwarts.

Hermione got up from where she had been sitting. Her shift was over, and she went inside to see if Harry was awake. She let the warmth from inside the tent fall over like a wave, enjoying how it seeped through her clothes. Looking over to Harry's cot, she saw him laying there, seemingly asleep. She walked over to him, stopping at his side, and peered down. He seemed asleep, his face scrunched together as if he was having a bad dream. She touched his shoulder gently, rousing him from his sleep.

"Harry?"

"Huh?" he sat upright in a flash, looking around. When his eyes fell upon Hermione, they changed from surprise to... something else. She couldn't quite figure out what it was, but she felt sadness when she looked into his green eyes. "My turn?" she nodded and he got up and went outside without giving her another reply. She just stared after him. Had something happened? Was he having dreams again about Voldemort? She worriedly went to her own cot. Her own problems were now mixed with worries about her friend. Harry always had her worried, but she also knew that he could survive anything.

She tried to sleep, but was unable to. Too many thoughts and worries swirled through her head. Frustration began to grow as still no answers came to her. Both of them would need their rest if they were going to finish this quest they had set out to do. A quest that hopefully would lead them to victory over Voldemort and let them come out alive afterwards. It wouldn't be easy for them. The Death Eaters and the catchers were scurrying around the country and putting down everyone who could be thought of as residence, even if they weren't, and the two of them were all alone. But even if they were alone in this, they had each other, and hopefully that would be enough.

With a sigh, she gave up the thought of trying to sleep. It was an impossible task! Whenever she closed her eyes only and to try and sleep, two things popped up, keeping her mind in turmoil and making it impossible to settle down enough for sleep to come. One was Harry and the other one was the battle against Voldemort. "Merlin's beard!" she groaned and got up. She needed to talk to Harry. He had always been there for her, and even if he was in a slump they could still be there for one another. She would try and cheer him up and he would comfort her. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

She got out of her cot, put on her pullovers again and went outside to find Harry. He was sitting on a stone a few yards from the tent. She could see that his shoulders were slumped from where she was standing behind him and she could hear him mumble to himself. Was his slump that bad? Harry rarely mumbled and especially not to himself. As she got a little bit closer she could make out the words he was saying.

"She will leave me. Everybody body leaves me. Everyone I love always leaves. I wish I had told her earlier how I felt. But it's too late now. Any day now, she will leave me." Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Leave him? Felt about her? Her mouth fell open slightly when she remembered her shift earlier and how she had spoken to herself. Had he heard? Oh God! He thought she was thinking of leaving him? No wonder he was acting so strange. She would never leave him! She had to do something! She couldn't stand having caused him this pain.

"Harry?" she said softly. She kept her voice low and soft, not wanting to scare him, but he still flew up from the stone on which he had been sitting on and swirled around to face her. "I'm not gonna leave you Harry. I'm never leaving you."

"What? But?" He looked bewildered, confused, blinking at her with a stupid look on his face.

"You heard me ranting earlier?" he nodded and she stepped closer. "It wasn't about you, Harry. I was talking about Ron." She was standing in front of him now, only a foot away. "I was asking myself why I even stayed with him so long, when you were the one who always stood by me. Why I stayed with him when you were the one who cared for me, who always tried to make me happy. Why I thought I cared for him when I care for you..."

"I..."

"Please believe me. I would never think of leaving you all alone..."

"I love you!" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. As he heard himself say those words, his eyes widened in shock and his hands flew up to cover his mouth. Hermione began to giggle. Then the giggle turned into laughter. She doubled over, clutching her sides and laughing hard. Harry in turn looked first disturbed and irritated that she was laughing at him, and then he began too, falling victim for the contagious laugh.

"Huh huh huh," the bushy-haired girl panted as she struggled to stop laughing. "Ha... harry..." He looked at her, his green eyes looking straight into hers. She saw what she had seen all those times before when she had looked into them. The undying love he held for his friends, the loneliness of not having a family to call his own. His eyes were the most beautiful emerald green she had even seen, and she found herself remembering all those times when he had been with her, stood beside her and helped her. Protected her. She decided then and there that she would return that love he held, to be the family he had never had. To be the one whom he turned to and would lean on if he needed strength. "I love you too." Her voice was barely a whisper, but to Harry's ears it sounded as she screamed it as loud as she could. His heart soared and beat as fast as it could.

In a blink of an eye, he had pulled her into a tight hug, crushing her against his chest. He would never let her go. Never leave her side. He would protect her with his own life if needed be, and he would gladly do it too. He was happy, even though he knew what lay ahead. He would do it all, just to be able to be with her afterwards.

"You can't believe how long I have waited to hear those words, Hermione. All my life I have waited, and for you to say them..." As a tear rolled down his cheek, Hermione clutched him tight too.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, Harry. But finally..."

"We have each other," he finished for her.

There they stood, holding each other as tightly as possible. They were all alone in the forest as dawn began to break. In the first rays of the sun, they looked at each other and timidly, but lovingly, they shared their first kiss.

Standing not too far away, hiding behind a tree, was Ron. He was watching them in silence. A smile spread across his lips when he saw his two friends kiss. "It's blood time! I thought it would take them a few more weeks! They are so thick sometimes those two."

"Yes, they can be. But so was James at his age." Next to Ron stood a silver doe. It was it who had spoken. "Thank you for this Ron. My son owes you a lot."

"Don't mention it Mrs. Potter, he's done much for me and my family. Hermione and I were never meant to be. Besides, I think Luna is more my type anyway."

And both Ron and the doe turned and began walking away, leaving the two newfound lovers alone for the time being. They deserved some peace and tranquillity before the final battle that they all knew would come. Hopefully this would turn the table in their favour.

The End


End file.
